


From the Rubble

by Blizzard_Fire



Series: Science Bros Week 2019 [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Power Swap, Bruce Banner Is a Good Bro, Bruce Banner is Iron Man, M/M, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Slash, Roleswap, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is the Hulk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-07-08 16:42:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19872778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blizzard_Fire/pseuds/Blizzard_Fire
Summary: Doctor Tony Stark is the Hulk. Bruce Banner is Iron Man, and head of Banner Industries.After the battle of New York, Tony is reluctant to stick around. Bruce hopes to convince him.Swapped powers AU!





	From the Rubble

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "dust" for Science Bros Week 2019.
> 
> Swapped powers AU! In which the boys' back stories are swapped (along with the corresponding side characters) but they retain their usual personalities.
> 
> (I really just wanted to see Bruce in the suit tbh)

The pain always registered first.

It began as a deep ache in bones that had stretched and shrunk, the tightness of skin that felt too small. Then came the cold air and the headache and the press of skin on hard stone. Tony groaned as despair flooded through him. He'd been doing so well. Months without a Hulk-out. What had gone wrong, who had been hurt this time?

'Tony?'

He licked his lips and tried to speak, but his mouth was full of brick dust. He coughed instead.

'Are you okay?' A vaguely familiar voice. Male: soft, but with a curiously brittle quality. 'We won. The whole Chitauri army was destroyed.'

Oh yeah, there had been a fight. Tony remembered waking up in a destroyed barn and having a crisis of faith before making his way back to the team and transforming - again. No wonder he felt like death.

Tony opened his eyes. He was curled on his side, shivering in nothing but a torn pair of pants. Beside him lay the battered suit of Iron Man. 'I like the new distressed metal look. Was that me or the aliens?'

A chuckle, muffled by the faceplate. 'Probably a bit of both. Um, could you...? There's a button under my chin that opens the mask.'

With shaky limbs, Tony complied, every muscle complaining as he forced himself to sit up and lean over.

The faceplate opened, revealing the face of Bruce Banner, head of Banner Industries. 'Thanks. Was getting a little stifling in there.' He made no effort to move. 'The others should be along soon. They saw where we fell, anyway.'

Tony took a proper look at their surroundings. They were on the roof of a tall apartment building. The devastation from the Chitauri attack was visible for miles. 'We fell?'

'Yeah. I directed a nuclear missile into a wormhole and - it's a long story.' Bruce winced. 'But my suit lost power. Hulk caught me but...'

'But you can't get out of there?' he surmised.

'I'd appreciate it if you could pull the release mechanisms.'

'You'll have to buy me dinner first, Mr Banner.' But Tony reluctantly sat down on the ground beside him and ran his hand down the dented chest plate. 'So, the big green asshole saved you, huh? First useful thing he's done in a while.'

Bruce smiled. 'I'm not sure you give him enough credit. Somehow I wasn't expecting him to still have your goatee, though.'

Vague images of the fight drifted back to him. Smashing up soldiers, Loki shouting at him... 'Might have made a mess of your tower. Hulk thought it'd look better with some Loki faceprints on the floor.'

A small smile touched his features. His curly hair peeked around the edges of the mask, clinging to his sweaty forehead. 'He certainly saved our asses today. You say he's a monster but he fought happily alongside Thor.'

'Well, it just so happened that smashing was on the agenda. Of course he was happy.' And Bruce could claim ignorance all he wanted, but they hadn't summoned him here just to play gamma scientist. They'd wanted to see the beast, see if it could be weaponised. They were no better than General Stane in that respect. 'Mission accomplished. Yay. Glad ol' Jolly Green was useful for a while. Fancy buying me a plane ticket?'

Bruce blinked. 'You're leaving already?'

'We had fun, but now it's the morning after. We've both got hangovers, I've drooled all over your pillow, the wife is due home any minute... you get the idea.' He finally found the release button and the chest plate sprung open. Underneath, Bruce wore his trademark purple shirt. The arc reactor glowed softly beneath it.

'Where will you go?' Bruce asked.

'Doesn't matter. As long as it's away from here.' The arms were more difficult; Hulk had clearly grabbed Bruce in one giant fist, and there were finger-shaped dents in his elbows.

'You could stay, you know.' With his chest free, Bruce gratefully rolled his shoulders. 'Be part of the team.'

'I don't do teams. Teams get hurt.' He thought of Pepper, lying in that hospital bed after the first time he'd changed. Bloodied, broken, but she'd still smiled when he came to visit her. 'I had a great time saving the world, but I don't feel like signing up for Fury's little tea party. Just escaped one crazy general, I don't want to trade him for another, you know?' He paused to rub his hands along his bare arms in an attempt to banish the goosebumps. 'I didn't ask to be brought out of hiding and thrust into the public eye. I've done enough. Now I want out.'

'Okay... okay Tony.' Bruce stared thoughtfully up at the sky as Tony pried open his left gauntlet. 'Pick a place, and I'll get Betty to sort it out for you.' He swallowed, throat bobbing. 'Maybe I could get you a drink before you catch your flight?'

Tony's Hulk-addled mind clunked into a different gear. 'A drink?'

'You _are_ the world expert on gamma radiation. Amongst other things. Pick your brains over coffee? Or, uh, green tea? You mentioned that you couldn't have caffeine.'

They could talk about _science._ Tony ran a hand through his hair, dislodging a spray of brick dust. 'Tea... tea is good,' he said eventually. If it only delayed him by a few hours... it had felt so good to talk about wavelengths and density vectors and causation. To feel like Tony Stark: physicist, and not Tony Stark: dangerous green monster. Of course he liked Bruce, had done from the moment they'd met and Bruce had complimented him on his research. He didn't seem cautious around him, just intrigued, and never brought up the Hulk unless Tony mentioned it first.

The victorious little smile Bruce gave in response made his stomach do a little flip. 'Great. We'll have to find you some more clothes first, though.'

Tony looked down. His stolen jeans had been reduced to rags, and it was only careful leg positioning that now protected his modesty from the elements. 'Big guy's just done half the job for ya.' He shrugged. 'You know, I think you look even better horizontal.'

A delicate blush lit up his cheeks as he chuckled. 'You know you said that out loud, right?'

Tony just smirked back. He always found his inhibitions to be lower after a Hulk-out, and after two... it was like being tipsy. If he had any sense he'd start walking now. But now he kind of wanted to see how much more he could make Bruce blush. 'Hope you're not commando under here - ' He rapped his knuckles on Bruce's iron groin. '- or the walk back is going to get _very_ interesting.' Sure enough, he was rewarded with a darker flush. 'Oh come on, you're a billionaire. Don't tell me people don't flirt with you.'

'Not as much as you'd think.' With both his arms free, Bruce could now sit up to help release his legs. 'But I think you're trying to distract me from the fact that you don't want to stay.' His brown eyes were too knowing. 'You could make real change here. You saw the lab. Drink or no drink, you have a brilliant mind that deserves to be put to good use.'

'So I'm a resource to be used either way. Fury wants Hulk, you want Stark.'

'Tony.' Bruce rubbed his forehead wearily. 'Fifteen minutes ago I passed out from oxygen starvation. I'm pretty sure at the very least I have mild concussion. I'm not sure how else to phrase "I like having you around" in a way that won't insult you.' He clambered unsteadily out of the suit and sat down on the ground, gratefully stretching out his limbs. One of the richest men in the US, Tony mused, who'd turned himself into a weapon to protect others. 'We're not exactly short of space here.'

Tony sat on his haunches, ignoring the resulting pain in his thighs. 'Fury already made me a room, remember? I don't want your charity.'

'Forget Fury. He's a military type, you're never going to see eye-to-eye. To him, we _are_ resources. Maybe that's not such a bad thing.' He smiled faintly. 'And it's not charity. I'll be paying you for the work you do. I'm sure you can come up with a project or two.'

Tony gritted his teeth against the growl of frustration he felt building in him. Of course he _wanted_ to stay, but he couldn't. Even if he'd found a group of people who seemed to accept him for who he was. 'I just want...' He hunched over, shivering. 'I want to be left alone.'

Bruce stared at him. 'So why did you choose to come back and help us? You could have run off after you fell from the Helicarrier. No one forced you to come back and fight, but you did it anyway and you even brought Hulk out willingly.' His eyes flicked over Tony's face with something approaching fondness. 'That doesn't sound like a guy who wants to be left alone.'

A surge of restless energy coursed through him, bringing him to his feet. Tony paced barefoot along the rooftop, not caring that he had to hold his pants up. He'd always been impulsive, never bothered keeping a lid on his emotions. Until he'd had to. 'I don't know, I just want to do some good, I guess.' He stared down at the devastated city. Hulk had done something good today. They both had. And the longer he thought about it, the more tempted he was by Bruce's offer. If only because holy shit he'd be able to have _baths_ and _actual food_ that wasn't instant ramen. And then there was the eye candy, of course.

When he turned back, Bruce was standing up, albeit wobbling a little. The arc reactor's glow was visible even in the bright sunlight, a reminder that Tony was now in the company of others like him. Not-quite-humans. Human plus. Although Bruce was definitely flagging.

He seemed surprised when Tony strode over to him and looped an arm around his shoulders to support him. 'You know what? You've got concussion and I've been the Hulk twice today. I don't wanna do too much thinking. It's bad for me.'

Bruce frowned. 'Okay?'

Their faces were now only inches away. Tony regarded him seriously, tapping the centre of his chest. 'Have you ever tried shawarma? I saw a shawarma joint on my way in here. No idea what that is but I reckon we could use a pick-me-up.'

Bruce leaned against him gratefully. 'Yeah, we could do that.'

'Then, you know, we could find a dessert place after, maybe. Assuming there's anywhere still open. And I guess there'll be a debriefing of some sort, so you're gonna need me for that since I'm clearly the smartest guy in the room. You're close second, of course.'

A smile was growing on Bruce's face. 'Of course.'

There was a sound growing in the distance: motorbikes. The others had arrived.

But Tony kept his eyes on Bruce. 'And after _that_ , if you still wanna talk science... maybe I'll listen. Because maybe I like having you around too.'

He grinned, and they both headed for the edge of the roof to wave down to their teammates.

Tony felt a hand brush through his hair, dislodging a cloud of dust. 'You uh, might wanna shower before the debriefing,' said Bruce shyly.

Tony smirked. 'Promises, promises.'

**Author's Note:**

> I kinda like that impulsive Tony is now counterbalanced by the Hulk, and observant, caring Bruce has the ability to provide for those he cares about.


End file.
